ศูนย์นวัตกรรมเทคโนโลยีหลังการเก็บเกี่ยว

Postharvest physiology of prickly pear cactus stems.

Cantwell, M.; Rodriguez-Felix, A.; Robles-Contreras, F.;

Scientia Horticulturae Year: 1992 Vol: 50 Issue: 1-2 Pages: 1-9 Ref: 18 ref.

1992

บทคัดย่อ

The young succulent stems of Opuntia ficus-indica and O. inermis [O. stricta] were harvested when they were 10- or 20-cm long and stored at 5 deg , 10 deg , 15 deg or 20 deg C for up to 30 days. Cactus stems of both species maintained their visual quality for 3 weeks at 5 deg or 10 deg . Longer term storage at 5 deg resulted in the occasional development of surface discoloration on the stems of O. ficus-indica. The rate of CO2 production was higher in small stems than in large ones. On the day after harvest, it was approximately 60 micro l CO2 g-1 h-1 in small stems of O. inermis stored at 20 deg compared with 25 micro l CO2 g-1 h-1 in similar stems stored at 10 deg . These rates decreased to 40 and 20 micro l CO2 g-1 h-1, respectively, after 10 days in storage. Ethylene production rates were low, averaging 0.2 micro nl g-1 h-1 at 20 deg . The titratable acid content of the stems was affected by the time of day at which they were harvested and by the subsequent storage temperature. The CAM pathway appeared to be inactive in small stems but did operate in larger stems, which showed diurnal fluctuations in acid content. Storage of the larger stems for 9 days at 10 deg , 15 deg or 20 deg reduced the acid content, whereas in stems stored at 5 deg it remained steady or increased. Longer term storage reduced the acid content at all storage temperatures, but the rate of decrease was less at lower temperatures.